Science education in Sisters

Science is simply a way of exploring our world. With careful and rigorous instruction, Sisters students can develop skills of discovery and ways of analyzing evidence that will last a lifetime. But for teachers to identify what students need to know and the best ways to help them learn is complicated and rapidly changing.

The challenge of science education became national news in 2012 when the Department of Homeland Security announced that foreign students graduating with a degree in any of 400 college programs could have their visas extended.

These programs were in the fields of science, technology, engineering, and math.

With this new policy, the catchy acronym for these 400 programs, 'STEM,' took on real force.

But the problem it addressed was real.

An international test of scientific competency of 15-year-olds revealed that the U.S. ranked near the bottom, 23rd of 30 countries.

Simply put: there were insufficient well-trained American students to fill the workforce.

Foreign students with STEM education could stay.

The importance of STEM education is easy to state:

Our knowledge-based economy is driven by constant innovation. The foundation of innovation lies in a dynamic, motivated and well-educated workforce equipped with STEM skills. The fruition of innovation requires vision and leadership. Currently, there are only four statesmen at the state and national level with education in STEM.

So far, rolling out comprehensive STEM education has been difficult; indeed, there has been no agreement among educators on what constitutes acceptable curriculum for K-12 students to prepare them for a STEM field of study in college.

Individual lesson plans are offered at national conferences, in books, and online.

Some teachers and schools adopt them.

Many hold back, seeing STEM as the latest trendy new thing in education.

And problems have emerged.

As yet, there is no equitable opportunity for all students.

Biases have been exposed against minorities and women.

Engineering has received little to no attention.

The art community wants to add an "A" for STEAM. Language education advocates suggest STREAM by adding an "R" for reading.

Chaos, not clarity.

In 2015, the State of Oregon (House Bill 3072) took up the challenge and created six regional Stem hubs charged to define educational goals, identify critical elements, and create linkages between educators and communities. The hubs have no resources or programs themselves, but are chartered to build partnerships between educators and business leaders and leverage their resources to increase STEM activities. It is too early to know if this "collective impact model" will work. The Central Oregon STEM Hub in Redmond (www.central

oregonstem.org) acts primarily as an information clearing house for STEM activities in schools. Additionally, high- tech businesses like Intel, Vernier and Garmin now offer prizes for students at science fairs in the communities of their employees. Sisters doesn't qualify.

In July 2011, The National Research Council released the first draft of a new K-12 curriculum called Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Over the next two years, individual states including Oregon worked with national leadership to bring these to adoption, now achieved in 19 of the 40 states that have shown interest. Resistance still exists in some state legislatures who oppose teaching the facts of evolution and climate

change.

The new NGSS standards are a major departure from the prior 20 years of teaching science, where the focus was on students memorizing "nerdy facts." NGSS takes its origin from observations of innate human curiosity and wonder that emerge early in life - infants see something of interest and explore it with their senses. They later learn to ask questions - what is it? How does it work? Why does this happen? And still later - how do I know the answer is correct?

NGSS places its greatest emphasis on teaching scientific practices: asking questions, defining problems, carrying out investigations with others, interpreting data, designing solutions, arguing from evidence, evaluating and communicating information. Students learn science by doing science - not by memorizing facts that are now readily available on the Web. These processes are taught by examining core ideas in life sciences, physical sciences, earth and space science, engineering and technology.

The NGSS curriculum is cumulative K-12, each grade building on what has come before. The overarching goal is for every high school graduate to be literate in science. A subset of students who have interest in lifelong learning and possess aptitude to pursue STEM beyond high school will find a ready job market with twice the pay level of other careers.

Science education in the Sisters School District is strong.

In statewide science tests in 2017, the district was first in science scores in Central Oregon, and the 5th- grade students placed first in the state.

However, compared to other states, science and math scores in Oregon are average, 21st to 31st of 46 states.

Over the past eight years the Sisters community has helped enhance science in the schools through donation of funds and volunteering hours, as at the annual Science Fair.

Some local businesses participate in the fair - Mohr Solutions, Innoviator, the Forest Service, and Fish and Game.

Istar Stratospheric Ballooning offers class experiments.

Energyneering Solutions and the Seed to Table program offer internships and training for students - long-term STEM connections between school and community.

The science teachers, bolstered with community support, have done well these past several years despite being buffeted hither and thither by state and national initiatives.

Now, science education in Sisters is poised to grow even stronger.

The new principal at the elementary school (Joan Warburg) and at the middle school (Alison Baglien) bring a depth of experience and strong leadership toward integrating NGSS and other curricula K-12.

Parents in the elementary school are asking for afterschool science experiences for their kids.

Parents in the middle school form clubs focused on robotics, math, butterflies and computer coding.

Students in the high school search out educational experiences found nowhere else in Oregon: exploring science in nature's wilderness; in the air with balloons, drones, telescopes and airplanes; in cancer research labs at Seattle's Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center; and in exploring the miraculous growth of a seed into a vegetable.